ANKARA 

NATO on Friday celebrated the 70th anniversary of Turkiye and Greece’s accession to the military alliance.

“On this day 70 years ago, Greece and Turkiye joined NATO,” it said on Twitter. "Happy Allyversary."

NATO also shared a video featuring images of Turkish and Greek soldiers at the time of their accession in 1952.

The video highlights the importance of the two nations for the security of the southern flank of the Atlantic Alliance.

Turkiye also marked the anniversary, with its Foreign Ministry saying: “During the Cold War era and after, Turkiye has been one of the responsible and leading members of the Alliance."

Defense Minister Hukusi Akar released a video message and said that "as the second largest army in the Alliance, Turkiye has always fulfilled all its responsibilities towards NATO and will continue to do so in the future."

"As allies, we are stronger together," he added.

NATO is an intergovernmental military alliance comprised of 27 European countries, two North American countries, and one Eurasian country.

Since its inception in 1949, the alliance's membership has expanded from the initial 12 countries to 30 now.​​​​​​​